Caribbean Trade Law and Development

Tag: World Trade Organization

  • OECS States on WTO’s provisional list of trade policy reviews for 2021

    OECS States on WTO’s provisional list of trade policy reviews for 2021

    Alicia Nicholls

    The World Trade Organization Members of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS-WTO Members) are among the WTO Members currently on the global trade watchdog’s provisional list to undergo trade policy reviews in 2021. The OECS-WTO Members are the independent States of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

    The Trade Policy Review mechanism is a key aspect of the WTO’s monitoring function. All WTO members are subject to this exercise which reviews each Member’s trade and trade-related policies at defined intervals according to its share of world trade. The four members with the largest shares of world trade (which are at present the European Union, the United States, China and Japan) are reviewed every three years. The next sixteen largest Members are reviewed every five years. The remaining Members, including the OECS-WTO Members, are reviewed every seven years respectively. The OECS Member States were last reviewed in 2014, which means they are due for their next review in 2021. A report by the WTO Secretariat and a report by the Members’ Government(s) serve as the basis for review.

    The TPR agenda for 2020 had to be significantly revised due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a WTO news item, more than twenty WTO Members, some of whose trade policy reviews were postponed this year, are on the provisional TPR list for 2021. In addition to the OECS-WTO Members, the list also includes Argentina, Bahrain, China, India, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mauritius, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Oman, Qatar, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Tonga, the United States, and Viet Nam, as well as the joint reviews of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) —Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Central African Republic and Chad. According to the WTO news item, the final list will be determined by the Trade Policy Review Body within a couple of weeks.

    A communication released this week showed that several Members’ TPRs scheduled for 2020 have been postponed, and further confirmed that for the remainder of 2020, the following four Members will be reviewed: Zimbabwe (30 September and 2 October), Thailand (24 and 26 November), Indonesia (9 and 11 December) and Macao, China (15 and 17 December).

    To read the WTO news item, please see here:

    Alicia Nicholls, B.Sc., M.Sc., LL.B is an international trade and development specialist. Read more of her commentaries here or follow her on Twitter @licylaw. All views expressed herein are her personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of any institution or entity with which she may from time to time be affiliated.

  • WTO DG Candidates kick off their campaigns

    WTO DG Candidates kick off their campaigns

    Alicia Nicholls

    In case you missed it, nominations for the next World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General closed on July 8, 2020. The first phase of the three-phased DG selection process is now complete.

    Who is running?

    Eight (8) candidates are officially in the running to become the seventh WTO DG after incumbent DG Roberto Azevedo announced in May this year his intention to step down on August 31, 2020, a full year before his second and final term expires. On June 8, nominations were officially opened, and closed July 8.

    All of the candidates are well-experienced and well-qualified. The majority are from developing countries, including three from Africa. Three of the candidates are women.

    The candidates are:

    Dr. Jesus Seade Kuri (Mexico)

    Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria)

    Mr. Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh (Egypt)

    Mr Tudor Ulianovschi (Moldova)

    Ms Yoo Myung-hee (Republic of Korea)

    Ms Amina C. Mohamed (Kenya)

    Mr Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)

    Dr Liam Fox (United Kingdom)

    Their full biographies may be accessed on the WTO’s website here.

    What happens now?

    During this second phase of the three-phased DG selection process the candidates will officially make themselves ‘known’ to WTO Members, starting this week.

    Over the next three days, July 15-17, each candidate will participate in the special meeting of the WTO General Council where he or she will present his or her vision and take questions from the membership, followed by a press conference.

    You can also access each candidate’s statement to the General Council once available here and watch the press conferences live and the recordings on the WTO’s website here.

    Not surprisingly, the selection process has been expedited. This second phase of the DG selection process normally lasts three months but will instead be shorter, expiring September 7.

    It should be noted, however, that even before this official campaigning period started, most candidates had already begun making their case for why they are the best person to lead the WTO at this time through media appearances and op-eds.

    The third and final phase, which involves consultations with Members over their preferences to narrow the field of candidates, will start thereafter and will only last two months. The DG is chosen by consensus.

    As I outlined in a previous article, while the WTO DG’s role is largely administrative and lacks any real formal power, the DG can exert considerable soft power to help members build consensus. This is especially needed at this time given the many challenges the 25-year old institution is currently facing.

    Alicia Nicholls, B.Sc., M.Sc., LL.B is an international trade and development specialist. Read more of her commentaries here or follow her on Twitter @licylaw. All views expressed herein are her personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of any institution or entity with which she may from time to time be affiliated.

  • What COVID-19 trade measures have WTO members notified so far?

    What COVID-19 trade measures have WTO members notified so far?

    Alicia Nicholls

    The World Trade Organization (WTO) has this week called on Members, including those in the Caribbean, to notify trade and trade-related measures they are implementing nationally to fight the spread of COVID-19 and to support their economies during these unprecedented times.

    This is part of the WTO’s efforts to monitor the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on global trade. It is also consistent with the WTO’s role as the guardian of the multilateral trading system by, inter alia, promoting transparency of Members’ trade laws and policies.

    To this end, both this initiative and the Director General’s decision to establish a special taskforce of experts from across the WTO Secretariat to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on trade flows and the overall global economy are welcomed.

    What has been notified so far?

    According to the WTO’s new COVID-19 and world trade page, the following Members have notified trade/trade-related COVID-19 measures thus far: Albania, Brazil, Kyrgyz Republic, Mauritius, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation.

    As many countries turn inward to fight the outbreak, it is little surprise, though unfortunate, that many of the notified measures are trade-restricting. The majority of measures have been notified as technical barriers to trade (TBTs), but sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures and quantitative restrictions have also been notified. Several of the notifications relate to export bans or licensing arrangements for the export of medical equipment, while others restrict imports of live fish and fish products, mammals and exotic pets from certain affected countries, particularly China where the virus originated.

    WTO Secretariat List of Members’ Trade-related COVID-19 measures

    The WTO Secretariat has also compiled its own list of Members’ trade and trade-related COVID-19 measures based on official and other public sources. The list as at March 26 may be found here.

    In addition to some trade-restrictive measures, the list shows that there have also been some trade-enabling measures implemented, such as reductions or eliminations of customs duties on medical supplies.

    Another example of a trade-enabling measure is Argentina’s suspension of its anti-dumping duty on imports of hypodermic syringes from China and parenteral solutions from Brazil and Mexico.

    The wider perspective

    More broadly, there has been growing concern over bans or restrictions being implemented by some countries on the export of medical supplies, such as pharmaceutical drugs, disinfectants and face masks. An insightful analysis by Global Trade Report (2020) found that “as of 21 March 2020, 46 export curbs on medical supplies have been introduced by 54 governments since the beginning of the year”.

    Let us consider a few examples. The European Union (EU) has temporarily introduced export authorisation requirements for exports of personal protective equipment outside of that bloc. Amidst a surge in global demand, India has announced an export ban on the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, believed by some to be a possible cure for COVID-19 but this remains scientifically unproven. The United Kingdom (UK) has banned the parallel exporting of certain medicines critically for treating COVID-19 patients in intensive care units.

    Export bans are now being extended to food items, which the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned could cause a global food shortage. For instance, in order to ensure enough rice supplies during the COVID-19 outbreak, Vietnam has halted the signing of new rice export contracts until March 28th. Kazakhstan has banned the export of key food items.

    What about the Caribbean?

    Although announced as temporary measures, these developments are particularly disconcerting for import-dependent small States like those in the Caribbean which not only rely on the importation of food products, but depend on the importation of medical supplies needed to combat the spread of the highly contagious virus. These export bans and restrictions will not only restrict the availability of these needed medical supplies, but make sourcing them more expensive, with dire implications for affected importing countries’ ability to save lives.

    How have Caribbean countries responded to the COVID-19 crisis to date? No Caribbean WTO Member has notified any COVID-19 trade-related measures so far. Indeed, Caribbean countries’ policy responses to the crisis have been largely in the form of fiscal stimulus packages and economic and social support for affected workers and businesses, as opposed to any export-related measures.

    Nonetheless, to assist the WTO Secretariat in its monitoring of Members’ trade/trade-related COVID-19 policy responses and to comply with our general notification obligations under the various WTO Agreements, it is advisable that our governments notify any COVID-19 trade/trade-related measures or economic support measures which may have a possible trade impact.

    Caribbean countries should also advocate for greater international cooperation to ensure that they and other poorer countries are able to access needed medical supplies and foods.

    Alicia Nicholls, B.Sc., M.Sc., LL.B., is an international trade and development consultant. You can also read more of her commentaries at www.caribbeantradelaw.com and follow her on Twitter @LicyLaw.

    DISCLAIMER: All views expressed herein are her personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of any institution or entity with which she may be affiliated from time to time.

  • Several WTO Members agree on interim appeal arrangement for dispute settlement

    Several WTO Members agree on interim appeal arrangement for dispute settlement

    Alicia Nicholls

    On March 27, 2020, several Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreed on a stop gap measure to ensure the continuation of a two-step system for the peaceful and orderly settlement of trade disputes amongst them at the WTO.

    Readers would recall that in December 2019 the WTO Appellate Body lost the quorum needed for hearing new appeals from panel reports and is no longer functioning. It is the sad culmination of the US’ blockage of appointments/re-appointments to the normally seven-member body in protest over alleged judicial overreach.

    What’s the Multiparty Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement?

    The new temporary arrangement agreed on today, known as the Multiparty Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA), is based on Article 25 of the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Understanding. The MPIA will be based on the substantive and procedural aspects of the Appellate Body. Any Member may join the MPIA upon notification of endorsement of the communication to the Dispute Settlement Body. The arrangement will be in place as long as the Appellate Body remains defunct.

    This interim appeal initiative, which was spearheaded by the EU, is further to a statement which was made on January 4, 2020 at Davos in which the EU and then sixteen other WTO Members agreed to work on such an arrangement.

    Who’s already in?

    In addition to the EU, the fifteen other WTO Members which have already signed on are: Australia; Brazil; Canada; China; Chile; Colombia; Costa Rica; Guatemala; Hong Kong, China; Mexico; New Zealand; Norway; Singapore; Switzerland; and Uruguay. No Caribbean country has signed on as yet.

    For further information

    The Ministerial Statement may be accessed here.

    The full text of the Multiparty Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement may be read here.

    Alicia Nicholls, B.Sc., M.Sc., LL.B., is an international trade and development consultant. You can also read more of her commentaries at www.caribbeantradelaw.com and follow her on Twitter @LicyLaw.

    DISCLAIMER: All views expressed herein are her personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of any institution or entity with which she may be affiliated from time to time.